Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Date a Live.
Shido's POV:
Letting out a light moan, I blink my eyes open to find myself, somehow, back in the living room/kitchen of my house, lying down on my right side on the couch, with my school uniform still on. Not only that, but looking outside the window, it's not late afternoon anymore, but early morning.
After a bit of remembering how I got here, I realize that I must be inside the VR game. Huh, guess it actually works. So, then, the girls are watching me from the real world?
"Hey! Can you girls hear me?!" I shout, hoping I can reach them from inside the game.
"Loud and clear, Shido!" I hear Yoshinon's voice coming from somewhere.
"We're communicating into your consciousness directly." Yoshino speaks. "Since your in a video game, there's no need for a transmitter."
"Okay." I nod. "So, I'm in the game. Should I just go about like I would normally do?"
"Yeah, just treat it like an average day for you." Kotori replies. "It'd be good if we could test the NPC functionalities as well."
So, I just went about things as normal... well, as normal as you could get when you're me, while also hearing random comments from the girls and Kannazuki. Yes, Kannazuki is also there apparently. Don't know when he got there, but it doesn't matter right now.
To their credit, they really did a good job making this world feel just like the real world. The NPCs acted a lot like the people I knew, including Tonomachi and his jealousy. However, there's one person that actually stands out.
A girl that looks to be fifteen years old, she's wearing an outfit that reminds me of a western nun, with a white dress and a black, cross-like symbol in the middle. With long silvery-white hair and blue eyes, she possesses an unnaturally beauty, matching that of a Spirit, which makes me believe that she is one. Especially when I realize that her eyes are actually Spirit eyes.
The unknown girl gives me a wide-eyed look of curiosity, before she suddenly turns and walks away. "Um, did anyone else see that?" I ask.
"See what?" Kotori asks.
"There was some girl that I've never met before."
"That's impossible. There shouldn't be anyone in this world that you don't know." Reine says, but that makes this stranger because there's no way I could forget a girl that cute.
"Shido, try going after her." Yoshino tells me. Her voice sounds firm, which leads me to believe that girl is someone important.
I follow after the unknown girl, stopping at the street that leads back to my house. I thought I saw her walking this way. Looking around, I catch sight of the girl I'm looking for standing a few feet away, gazing to her left.
"Hm... I don't recognize her." I say, taking a good look at the girl. Her outfit and hair are very unique, and she's very cute. There's no way I'd forget someone like her.
"Something's off." I hear Reine speak, her voice holding a hint of confusion. "There's no data on that girl. Who is she...?"
"Maria Arusu..." I hear Yoshino say quietly. Maria Arusu? Is that her name?
"Shido... Itsuka." I hear someone suddenly call me. It doesn't sound like any of the girls in the real world, so it must be...
Looking ahead, I notice the girl looking directly at me. Did she call me? How does she know my name?
"Impossible." Reine speaks. "That can't happen. There shouldn't be any data on this." I can hear the shock coming from Reine's voice, meaning that this is actually a big deal.
"Yes?" I reply to the girl named 'Maria Arusu', approaching her warily. "Is there something you need from me?"
"... Love." She speaks after a moment. "... What is love?" I blink in both surprise and confusion. That is not a question I expected to hear.
"Love, huh?" I take a moment to think about her question, recalling my love for the other girls, including Rio. "To be honest, I'm not sure how to answer that. People show their love in a variety of ways."
Maria closes her eyes, thinking about my words. "Tohka. Yoshino. Kotori. Origami. Rinne. Rio. Kaguya. Yuzuru. Miku. Natsumi. Kurumi." I thought she was listing the Spirits I've sealed, but then she brought up Kurumi. Is she just listing people who are close to me? "All of these girls love you, each in their own way."
"I'm not sure about Kurumi, but that's exactly what I mean. Everyone has their own way of loving someone, so there's no true answer to the question 'What is love?'. You could love someone like they're someone very precious to you, or you could love them like family, as I do with Rio." She opens her eyes to look at me, and I give her a smile. "Everyone has their own answer to love. You just need to find it."
"I see." Maria hums, nodding at my answer. "Then, perhaps I should observe how you love your precious people. Perhaps... that will help me find my answer."
"I would actually appreciate that." I accept her decision. Maybe it's because I've spent so much time with Yoshino, but I feel like something big is about to happen, and the virtual world is the center of it. In which case, it'd be great to have the girls here to help out.
"Very well. I shall make contact, then."
Yoshino's POV:
"What's the matter? The screen with the 'geme' turned black!" Tohka calls out as we lose connection with Shido on our end.
"It shut down?! Reine, what's going on here?!" Kotori asks, surprised by the turn of events.
Reine types away at the console's buttons, before gazing to the side in uncertainty. "I'm unsure of the cause, but it seems as though the simulation's still running."
Kotori's surprised face turns into a serious frown. "Are you saying we were the ones cut off?!"
"It would appear so."
"Something bad happened, didn't it?" Natsumi asks knowingly. "I knew something like this would happen. Something bad always happens during beta testing."
"Is Papa ok?" Rio asks, worried about her papa.
"I don't know, Rio..." Rinne replies, also worried. "But I really hope so."
As everyone's speaking, I continue to stare at the screen with a serious expression, which Kotori notices. "Hey, Yoshino, don't leave us hanging!" She calls for me. "You obviously know what's going on here. You even called that girl 'Maria Arusu' or something like that, so you know who she is."
With a nod to confirm her words, I turn to face everyone. "Alright. Here's the current situation." I begin to tell them. "Fraxinus is currently being hacked."
"Hacked?!" Kotori shouts. "That can't be! Fraxinus' systems can't be hacked, even with all the power of DEM's digital brain department combined!"
"What about an AI?" I question.
The Flame Spirit pauses. "An AI?"
"Just recently, DEM used their Spirit-related data to create an AI Spirit named 'Marina Arusu' and sent her to hack into Fraxinus' systems."
Kotori's and Reine's eyes widen, even though the latter was acting it. "That makes sense." The Analysis Officer mutters. "An AI is capable of far more digital brainpower than a human. And if it's a Spirit on top of that, that can bypass Fraxinus' security systems."
"What's an AI?" Tohka asks, clearly confused.
"AI stands for Artificial Intelligence." Origami explains to her. "It's a set of technologies that enable computers to perform a variety of advanced functions."
"That's right." I confirm. "Fraxinus' very own MARIA is an example of one such AI."
"Hold on, is she the one providing the dialogue choices during Shido's dates?" Natsumi asks.
"Yep." Kotori asks with pride. "She generates three options for Shido, then we on Fraxinus vote on which option Shido should go for."
Tohka blinks. "Then... when Shido demanded for my name even though I asked for his first, that was actually you guys?"
Kotori deflates a bit. "Okay, admittedly, that was a mistake on our end."
"I'll say!" Yoshinon butts in. "Who the heck aggressively demands a girl who could kill them effortlessly their name, especially when they don't actually have one?!" Kotori looks away, deciding not to answer that question. "And another thing! Why is the third option always so weird in comparison to the other two?!"
"... Actually, I've been wondering that myself." Kotori says. "So far, the third option has always been either something perverted or just out there."
"Ah, I took the time to look into that." Reine speaks up. "They're based on the first being the 'Regular Favorite', the second being the 'Opposition', and the third being the 'Dark Horse' candidate."
...
...
...
What.
"So the options are based on horse race terminologies." I say with the most deadpan expression imaginable. Of all the things I expected Fraxinus' choices to be based off of, this was certainly not what I expected.
"... Horse race terms?" Kotori repeats, her eyes twitching in quiet rage. "Horse race terms?!" Everyone takes a step back at Kotori's anger. "Did some bastard on this ship exploit MARIA's calculation capabilities to predict the outcome of horse races?!"
"Someone's gonna get it~" Yoshinon says in a sing-song voice.
"Anyways." I speak loud enough to regain everyone's attention. "We're getting off track."
Kotori calms herself and clears her throat. "Right. Speaking of MARIA, If Fraxinus is actually being hacked, then shouldn't she have..."
"She has." I answer Kotori's question before she finishes asking it. "MARIA detected Marina hacking into Fraxinus' main computer and locked her into the virtual world."
"So that's it." Reine mutters with narrowed eyes. "I noticed one of the screens glitching out before I started the simulation. Either that was MARIA just now locking Marina both into the virtual world, or Marina was trying to use that as an opening to hack into Fraxinus."
"So MARIA turned our new game into a prison." Kotori frowns. "And we unknowingly sent Shido in there as well."
"It's not just them, though." I say. "In order to trap Marina in the virtual world, she had to trap herself in there as well. She even traced Marina's information and took on her appearance to keep her from hacking Fraxinus' main computer."
"... Maria Arusu." Kotori says, her eyes wide with realization. "That girl was MARIA! How did I not realize that sooner?!"
"So, that girl is Fraxinus' AI?" Miku asks. "She's really cute! I wonder if that means Marina is just as cute?" Of course you'd think that, Miku.
"So, we have two conflicting AI Spirits trapped within a VR game, and now Shido's trapped in there with them." Natsumi summarizes. "Anything else that we're missing?"
"That question that Maria asked Shido." Rinne brings attention to Maria's question. "'What is love?'... Why did she ask that?"
"When Maria locked herself into the VR world with Marina, she also locked herself away from her memories." I answer. "She doesn't remember anything about herself, only that her purpose is to help Shido seduce the Spirits into falling in love with him. That's why she approached Shido to ask him about love, since he's the shared target of our love and affection."
"She wants to know what it's like to be in love with someone!" Tohka realizes.
"Pretty much." I confirm. Tohka may be the idiot among us, but she's as dumb when it comes to Spirits and love.
"An AI that wants to learn how to love..." Origami mutters.
"We're really shooting at all bases now." Natsumi jokes. "Charming a Spirit that's actually an AI. His life really is a dating sim." That's already been established.
"Hm?" Reine's hum of interest catches our attention. "Interesting..."
"What is it, Reine?" Kotori asks. "Did something change?"
"It seems that Maria is sending a message." Reine replies. "No. From the way it worded, it appears to be an invite."
"Right on cue." I say, earning everyone's attention once again. "Maria wants to learn what love is, so she's inviting each of us, who love Shido in our own way, to observe how we show him our love."
"I see." Kotori hums, then looks at the list and blinks. "Wait, then why is Kurumi on the list? And Rio, too, actually?"
"I would assume this is a list of the girls surrounding Shin." Reine replies. "As for Rio... well, it doesn't have to just be romantic love. It can be familial love as well, like a father would love his daughter."
"That makes sense." Kotori nods in understanding, then narrows her eyes. "More importantly, though, what if this is a trap from Marina to lure all the Spirits?"
Yoshinon gasps in a dramatic fashion. "Are you doubting your own AI?"
Kotori's face becomes flushed. "I-I'm just trying to take all scenarios into account!"
"That still doesn't change the fact that A; Shido is currently trapped in the VR world, and B; Fraxinus is currently under threat of being taken over by an enemy AI Spirit." I point out. "It doesn't matter if it's a trap or not, this is our ticket to get in there and help Shido and Maria."
Kotori grits her teeth, and I can see the guilt in her eyes from doubting her own AI. "Sorry. You're right. We need to go in there."
"But didn't Reine say that this game is single-player only?" Natsumi points out.
"Hm... Now that you mention, it does look set up for only one person." Tohka remarks, looking at the headset that Shido's wearing.
"That won't be a problem." Reine speaks up. "The game was originally intended to let multiple user log in at the same time, but it would result in such a large date transfer that I was refraining."
"But this time, Maria is actively watching over the transfer, so it should be fine." Kotori finishes. "Only problem right now is finding Kurumi." That would be true... if Kurumi wasn't right behind Kotori right now.
"Did you call for me?" Kurumi asks, letting her presence be known.
Kotori lets out a startled yelp in surprise and turns to face Kurumi. "When did you get here?!"
"I figured that you needed me for something, so here I am~" Kurumi smiles.
Kotori regains her composure, looking at the only unsealed Spirit here with a glare. "Whatever. Here's the situation-"
"I already know what's going on." Kurumi interrupts Kotori, making the Flame Spirit look at her with surprise. "Yoshino allowed me to use Yud to see her past memories in return for me helping her save Origami, so I already know everything I need to know."
Kotori looks at me for confirmation, and I nod that she's telling the truth. "Well, that saves time explaining." The Flame Spirit shrugs.
"Alright. Let's go, everyone." I say, moving over to one of the chairs.
Everyone else moves to their respective chair and puts on their headsets. The only ones who haven't are me and Kotori as we look at each other and nod. We both put on our headsets, and soon we are all sent into the VR world.
Shido's POV:
After Maria said she would make contact, she became unresponsive for a while. I'm guessing she's making contact with Fraxinus to get the girls in here. "... Access verified." She suddenly says without warning, then I notice a green flash behind me and turn around to see eleven bright green lights appearing, and then quickly clearing to reveal the Spirits, including Kurumi.
"Girls!"
"Papa!" Rio cheers excitedly as she runs up and hugs me. "Rio missed you so much!"
"I missed you, too, Rio." I return the hug with a smile. Honestly, even though I haven't been in the virtual world for long, it still felt like a really long time, and talking to NPCs wasn't the same as being with the girls in real life.
Kotori, meanwhile, walks past me and up to Maria. "So, you're Maria." She says with a smile. "I've always been interested in meeting you personally."
"... Maria?" Maria repeats with a tilt of her head.
"Yes." Yoshino replies. "That's your name. Maria Arusu."
"Maria Arusu." Maria repeats her full name. "That name... It feels right. I shall accept the name given to me." Huh. I expected some mistrust between the girls and Maria, but Yoshino must've already told them who she is.
"Hey, Maria!" Tohka calls the possibly new Spirit. "You want to know what love is, right?"
"Yes." Maria confirms. "I've called you all here as to observe how you all love Shido Itsuka, as to ascertain its origins and how it is nurtured."
"In that case, why not go on a date with him?" We all look at Tohka, surprised to hear her of all people suggesting someone completely new to date me, to which she smiles. "It's not enough just to observe how people love each other. The best way to know what love it is to experience it yourself."
"Tohka-chan's right." Origami says, agreeing with the Energy Spirit. "Dating someone and getting to know them is the first step to falling in love. That's how a lot of us fell in love with Shido-kun." She's got a point there.
"I see." Maria nods in understanding. "So, by dating Shido Itsuka, I will be able to learn what love is?"
"Of course! Right, Shido?" Tohka puts me on the spot, and now everyone's attention is on me.
"Well, if you're all alright with it, then I can't possibly say no." I say, admittedly agreeing that Tohka's plan is the right one.
Kotori chuckles. "Even in a virtual world, some things never change." She muses. "It's settled. To help Maria learn and experience love, Shido will focus on dating Maria." She looks at the girl in question. "Is that acceptable for you?"
Maria nods. "I accept. We shall begin soon. A date with Shido... to discover the meaning of love." Looks like things are set in stone now. Though, I should still find time to spend with the other girls.
Shido and the girls have now met Maria.
Yeah, Kotori in the game started out not trusting Maria, which is ironic when you realize that this is her own AI she's showing animosity towards. But, thanks to Yoshino explaining everything to her and what's actually going on, she's more willing to accept her as a friend, same with the other Spirits.
Especially considering Tohka was the one who suggested Shido dating Maria.
But thanks to that, things are now set for the heroes to head towards the True Ending route. However, I will also sprinkle in some moments with the other girls whenever I can. So far, Yoshino and Miku are the only ones who've formed Complete Seals with Shido, and I'm hoping to change that.
With all that said, see you all next chapter!